Microcirculation, or the process of delivery of fresh blood to organ tissue through the network of the smallest blood vessels, provides a supply of nutrients and oxygen to the tissue, and removal of byproducts of metabolism. Accordingly, the state of microcirculation may be an indicator of tissue vitality. Various clinical conditions (e.g., stroke, traumatic shock, or sepsis, among others) may result in altered or disrupted microcirculation, which, if untreated in a timely manner, may result in tissue damage and/or other adverse results. For example, in sepsis and septic shock, microvascular blood flow may be altered in a noticeable fashion that may be correlated with clinical outcome.
Severe sepsis, for example, affects around a million patients annually in the United States, with a mortality rate of about 30-50%. However, there is no conventional, widely accepted technology that has high accuracy sepsis detection while being fast, non-invasive, and integrated into a clinical workflow.